????該數據中心是阿里巴巴在美國謹慎擴張的最新舉措，該公司也借此進入了競爭激烈的美國云服務市場。在這里，占據主導地位的是亞馬遜、微軟和谷歌。

????阿里巴巴負責國際云業務的副總裁喻思成告訴路透社記者，該公司旗下的阿里云打算首先通過該中心為在美國從事經營活動的中國公司提供服務，后者包括零售商、網絡和游戲公司；隨后，該中心將把目光投向希望同時在中美兩國開展業務的美國企業。

????喻思成沒有透露該中心的投資規模；出于安全考慮，他也沒有透露該中心的位置。但喻思成說：“這對我們來說是具有重要戰略意義的行動。國際擴張實際上是我們整個公司今后幾年的策略。”

????“如果客戶有這樣的需求，我們的業務最終有可能發展到美國的其他地區，比如東海岸或中部。”

????人們一直把阿里云比喻為初級版的亞馬遜網絡服務。這項業務最初是阿里巴巴內部技術基礎設施的一部分，隨后不斷發展壯大，目前主要為國內中小型互聯網企業提供數據處理服務和存儲空間。

????阿里巴巴是中國電商行業主導者，阿里云在國內市場的份額約為23%，但它面對的是來自國內外的競爭對手，其中有中國電信這樣的電信運營商，也有微軟和亞馬遜這樣的海外企業。阿里云目前在杭州、青島、北京、深圳和香港設有數據中心。

????就在阿里巴巴啟動美國云業務之際，美國企業和政界人士正在對中國政府表達不滿，原因是他們認為后者限制了外國技術在中國的發展。

????審查制度觀察組織認為，中國政府的管制限制了來自國外的競爭，影響了多家公司的在線服務業務，包括谷歌的相關服務和亞馬遜網絡服務。

????本周，美國總統奧巴馬對中國的反恐新規提出強烈批評，稱這些規定給外國公司的數據管理帶來了極大困難。新華社周三對此做出回應，稱奧巴馬的批評“毫無根據，再次體現了美國外交政策的傲慢和偽善。”

????另一個問題也許更為緊要，那就是阿里巴巴打算怎樣跟亞馬遜、微軟和谷歌等公司抗衡。為了維持雙位數增長，這些公司已經下調了云服務價格。研究機構IDC預計，到2017年，這些企業所爭奪的公共云服務市場的規模有望增長到1000億美元。

????如果價格具有競爭力，預計美國消費者不會介意這項業務由一家中國公司來提供。

????阿里巴巴為阿里云制定了遠大計劃。目前阿里云約占該公司收入的1%，但它為阿里巴巴的核心電商業務提供支持，而且長期來看將發揮關鍵作用。阿里巴巴計劃進行大量數據匯集和分析工作，其中包括消費者行為數據，公司認為云計算是實現這一計劃的關鍵。

????阿里巴巴需要尋找方式，來維持一直以來的飛速增長。周二，該公司股價創上市以來新低，原因是競爭對手京東的季度業務好于預期，這讓人們再次開始擔心阿里巴巴的擴張速度正在放慢。

????The new California data center marks the Chinese company’s latest measured expansion onto American soil, and into a hotly contested U.S. market now dominated by Amazon.com Inc , Microsoft Corp and Google Inc.

????Alibaba’s Aliyun cloud division intends the new data center to cater initially to Chinese companies with operations in the U.S., including retail, Internet and gaming firms. It will later target U.S. businesses seeking a presence in both countries, Ethan Yu, a vice president at Alibaba who runs the international cloud business, told Reuters.

????“This is a very strategic move for us,” Yu said, declining to say how much Alibaba invested in the data center or disclose its location for security reasons. “International expansion is actually a company strategy in the coming few years.”

????“Eventually we may expand to other regions, for example the East Coast or middle part of the U.S., if our customers have the demand for that.”

????Aliyun, which has been likened to a budding version of Amazon Web Services, began as part of the company’s in-house technical infrastructure but has since expanded to lease processing and storage space for small and medium Internet businesses in China.

????While Alibaba dominates e-commerce in China, Aliyun, also known as AlibabaCloud Computing, holds about a 23% market share in its home market. It faces both Chinese and foreign competitors, from carriers like China Telecom to Microsoft and Amazon. Its existing data centers span the Chinese cities of Hangzhou, Qingdao, Beijing, Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

????Alibaba is kicking off its U.S. cloud business as American corporations and politicians are protesting what they see as Beijing’s efforts to curb foreign technology at home.

????Chinese government controls have limited foreign competition and disrupted many online services, including Google’s and Amazon Web Services’, according to censorship watchdogs.

????This week, U.S. President Barack Obama sharply criticized new Chinese counter-terrorism regulationsthat subject overseas companies to arduous measures regarding data management. The official Chinese news agency Xinhua responded Wednesday by calling Obama’s criticisms “utterly groundless and another piece of evidence of arrogance and hypocrisy of the U.S. foreign policy.”

????A more immediate concern may be how Alibaba intends to vie with the likes of Amazon, Microsoft and Google, which are slashing prices on cloud services to try and sustain double-digit growth. They’re battling over a public cloud services market that could grow into an $100 billion industry by 2017, according to researcher IDC.

????U.S. customers are not expected to be bothered by the service’s Chinese ownership if pricing is competitive.

????Alibaba has big plans for Aliyun, which now accounts for about 1% of its revenue but supports its core e-commerce operation and will also play a pivotal role in the long run. Alibaba sees cloud computing as key to its plans to aggregate and analyze the vast quantities of data it collects, including on consumer behavior.

????The company also needs to find ways to sustain so-far stunning growth. Shares in the company fell to their lowest levels since their debut on Tuesday, after rival JD.com’s JD 0.69% better-than-expected quarterly results revived concerns that Alibaba’s expansion is slowing.

????2014年第四季度，云計算和基礎設施成為該公司增長最快的業務，銷售額飆升85%，達到5800萬美元。

????目前，阿里巴巴絕大多數收入都來自中國市場。近幾個月，該公司的擴張已經在俄羅斯和巴西等新興市場初見成效。但對于美國市場，阿里巴巴的態度一直是再三權衡、小心謹慎。

????喻思成指出，硅谷云計算中心將服務于阿里巴巴的全球速賣通業務以及外部公共云客戶。全球速賣通是該公司為國外買家建立的B2C平臺。

????他沒有詳細介紹潛在客戶的情況。但通常來說，資金緊張的初創型企業在開展業務方面都非常依賴云服務供應商。阿里巴巴已經投資多家美國公司，包括短信App開發商Tango、在線零售商11Main.com、Fanatics.com和Shoprunner。但還不清楚這些公司會不會使用阿里云的服務。

????此外，阿里巴巴已經和P2P借貸平臺LendingClub攜手，為美國在線購物人群提供貸款。

????喻思成透露，在硅谷云計算中心周三啟動前，阿里云曾為有意涉足國際市場的國內客戶進行了一段時間的測試，參加測試的僅限于受邀對象。這項業務已于周二正式面向美國市場推出。

????喻思成說：“我們將逐漸引起國外客戶的注意力。實際上，為數眾多的美國客戶和美國公司都打算在中國設立大量的數據中心，以便為他們在中國的客戶提供服務。”

????“我發現，美國客戶的需求確實很大，他們希望在全球范圍內均衡地部署自己的IT基礎設施，包括中國。”（財富中文網）

????譯者：Charlie

????審稿：李翔

????Cloud computing and infrastructure was the company’s fastest-growing business segment in the December quarter, increasing sales 85% to $58 million.

????Alibaba now derives the vast majority of its revenue from China. In recent months it has made headway in emerging markets from Russia to Brazil, but the company has taken a cautious, calculated approach to the U.S. market.

????The northern California data node would serve internal Alibaba businesses, like AliExpress, its online B2C platform for buyers outside of China, as well as external public cloud clients, Yu said.

????He declined to disclose details about potential clients. But cash-strapped startups generally rely heavily on cloud service providers to power their services. Alibaba has invested in several U.S. firms including messaging app Tango, online retailers 11Main.com, Fanatics.com and Shoprunner, but it’s unclear if they would avail themselves of Aliyun’s services.

????Separately, it has also tied up with LendingClub to provide financing to online buyers in the U.S.

????Ahead of Wednesday’s launch, Aliyun ran an invitation-only trial period for customers inChina with international expansion plans, he said. The company began selling U.S. cloud services on Tuesday.

????“Gradually we will start to attract international customers,” Yu said. “There are actually lots of U.S. customers, U.S. enterprises who look forward to setting up lots of data centers inChina to serve their Chinese-based customers.”

????“I do see there is big demand for U.S. customers who look for balanced presence of their IT infrastructure across the world, including China.”